Switch apparatus



Sept 26, 1961 R. F. BECKER ETAL 3,001,417

SWITCH APPARATUS Filed Feb, 14, 1958 INVENTORS ROBERT F. BECKER BERT L.SMILEY A TTOR/VE Y 3,001,417 SWITCH APPARATUS Robert F. Becker and BertL. Smiley, Freeport, Ill., assignors to Minneapolis-Honeywell RegulatorCompany, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 14,1958, Ser. No. 715,302 Claims. (Cl. 74-528) The present invention isdirected to a lever actuatingl arrangement, and specifically to a leverlock arrangement for a toggle or similar type switch, wherein at leastone definite abrupt axial movement of a biased oscillatory operatinglever is required so as to allow its movement from at least one positionto another, to thereby guard against accidental movement of theactuating lever toward at least one position.

Lever actuating arrangements wherein a definite axial movement of abiased oscillatory operating lever is required before oscillation of thelever can take place are of course old in the art. Thus, Patent No.1,012,806 discloses an arrangement wherein the operating handle can bemaintained in the neutral position against accidental movement. However,with such an arrangement, a relatively large oscillation or arc ofmovement of the operating handle is required to operate the switches.This drawback is overcome by the teaching of Patent No. 2,409,022wherein a plate having an irregular shaped opening is provided andassociated with the operating handle and the mounting bushing so as tomaintain the biased oscillatory operating lever in at least one positionagainst accidental movement. In this patent, the lever lock arrangementis applied to a toggle switch wherein a relatively small oscillation orarc of movement of the operating handle is required. While Patent No.2,409,022 overcomes the rather large oscillatory movement required bythe teaching of Patent 1,012,806, it has the disadvantage that theswitch per se cannot be easily mounted in a mounting panel due to theinclusion of the plate having the irregular shaped opening. A differentapproach to the problem of mounting is taken by Patent No. 2,723,571wherein the elements which form a portion of the lever lock arrangementare disposed on the mounting bushing of a toggle switch in such a mannerthat they can be easily removed. With such an arrangement, the switchper se can be mounted to the panel by a single fastening means. However,to so mount the switch involves the removal of the forementionedelements from the mounting bushing which raises the problem of looseparts. Above and beyond this, the torementioned elements of the leverlock arrangement of Patent No. 2,723,571, as well as the plate of thelever lock arrangement of Patent No. 2,409,022, are so arranged withrespect to the remainder of the structure as to be susceptible to damageby an external force such as through the accidental bumping thereof byheavy objects.

The lever lock arrangement, disclosed herein, comprises` a supportmember or housing including a mounting portion cooperable with amounting panel and a plate or insert integrally disposed with respect tothe mounting portion and having at least two distinct elevations sojoined that an abrupt movement of the biased oscillatory operating leveris required to move the lever from at least one position to another.This type of construction allows -for a movement of the operating leverthrough but a small arc to perform its function. Further, the plateconstruction eliminates any loose or removable parts and, by itsparticular association with the mounting portion, practically eliminatesthe possibility of damage to that portion of the lever look arrangementcaused by external lforces such as through the accidental bumping byheavy objects.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide Patented Sept.26, 1961 a lever lock arrangement in association with support membertherefor which can be mounted on a mounting panel by means of a singlefastener and wherein the operating lever need be moved through but arelatively small arc to perform its function and wherein the possibilityof damage to the lever lock arrangement is minimized;

It is another object of this invention to provide a lever lockarrangement as set forth above which requires the utilization of noloose or removable parts.

These and other objects will become more apparent from the reading ofthe following specication and appended claims wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of a toggle switch incorporating the novellever lock arrangement;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view of the arrangement of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a right hand View of the plate or insert of the lever lockarrangement of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a partial View of the arrangement of FIG- URE 1 showing thelever lock arrangement, and specilically showing the operating lever inone extreme position; and

FIGURE S is a View of a modiiied form or insert.

The toggle switch of FIGURES 1 and 2 is of the two pole, double throwvariety and includes a support or housing 10 comprised of a base member11 and cover member 12 appropriately aixed thereto. The cover member 12includes a mounting portion or bushing 14 which is disposed through anopening 16 of a mounting panel 17. The toggle switch is held in place inthe mounting panel 17 by the usual nuts 20, backup washer 21 andpositioning washer 22.

Located within the base member `11 on a pivot member 25 is a contact arm26 havinga plurality of contacts 27 and 28 associated therewith whichare cooperable with contacts 29 and 30, respectively `alxed to the basemember l1. The contact arm 26 is maintained in place by an outwardlybiased sleeve 31 slidingly located within the opening of the largeportion 32 of an operated lever 33.

Operated lever 33 pivots about pin 34 which is secured in the bushing14. A plate or insert 4t) including a portion 41 is disposed in theopening 42 of the bushing 14 which portion is appropriately cementedthereto. Insert 40 includes por-tions of varying elevations. Thus,surface 43 can be termed as of high elevation and surface 44 of lowelevation. Further, a pair of notches 45a and 45h and a pair of nibs 46aand 46h, more clearly shown in FIGURE 3, are also provided. The integralconstruction of the ybushing 14 and the insert 40 is such that thepossibility of the insert 40 being damaged is minimized, since only asmall portion thereof extends outwardly of the bushing 14 and no portionthereof extends beyond the perimeter of bushing 14.

Cooperating with the high surface 43, the low surface 44, the notches`45a and 45h and the nibs 46a and 46h, of the insert 40 are portions ofreduced cross section, in the for-rn of a pair of tangs 50, of anoperating handle or lever 53. The lever 33 is disposed through a slot48, best shown in FIGURE 3, in the insert 40 and passes into opening 54of the lever 53, thereby being maintained in axial telescopingrelationship therewith. A pin 55 is provided near the outer extremity ofthe lever 33 which cooperates with a washer 56 and spring 57, located inthe opening 54, to bias the operating lever `53 inwardly toward theinsert 40. The pin 55 is arranged to move in a slot 58 provided near theouter extremity of the opening 54 of the lever 53. A cap 59 is screwedto the outer extremity of the operating lever 53 so as to enclose theouter extremity of the lever 32; and the pin 55,

of the plate At this point it should be noted that the maximumdiametrical dimension of the cap 59 is less than the minor diameter ofthe thread of the nuts and the inside dia-meters of the washers 21 and22 thereby facilitating a passing of the nuts 20 and washers 21 and 22over the cap 59 as desired, without further `disassembly of thearrangement. Further, the arrangemen-t ydescribed above is easilymounted on the mounting panel 17 by a single fastening means, comprisedof the externally threaded bushing and the nuts 20, without encounteringloose or removable parts.

To operate the switch from the neutral position, as shown in FIGURE 1,it is only necessary to pull outwardly on the operating lever 53,thereby compressing the spring 57 and causing relative axial movementbetween the lever 33 and the lever 53, and to oscillate the lever 53 ineither direction to `an extreme position.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the operating lever 53 has been moved counterclockwise to an extreme position so that the tangs 50 engage the highsurface 43 of the in-V sert 40, thereby causing, referring to FIGURE 1,the mating of the movable contact 28 with the iixed contact 30. lf itshould be desired to return the switch to the neutral position, thelever 53 need merely be moved in a clockwise direction, as viewed inFIGURE 4, whereupon tangs 50, will return to the notches a and 45h. Nowshould it be desired to cause, again referring to FIG- URE l, closure ofcontacts 27 and 29, it is merely necessary to pull outwardly on theoperating lever 53 against the bias of the spring 57 and to oscillatethe lever 53 in a clockwise direction so that tangs are moved past nibs46a and 4Gb. A release of the operating lever 53 will result in the-tangs 50 engaging the low surface -44 and the lever 53 being locked inthis position until such time as the lever 53 is once more movedoutwardly and oscillated in a counter-clockwise direction. Thus it canbe seen that toggle switch can be actuated only upon axial movement ofthe operating lever 53. Further, it will be noted that the operatinglever S3 can be returned to its neutral position only from one of itsextreme positions without the necessity of an outward movement of thelever 53.

There are, of course, a number of modifications which can be made to theinsert 40 so `as to have the operating lever 53 locked in any position,locked in no position but requiring an outward movement to move it toone of the extreme positions, etc. One of these modifications is shownin FIGURE 5. There, an insert is shown having a pair of surfaces 61 and62 of low elevation, two sets of nibs 63 and 64 and a notch 65. Withsuch a construction, the operating lever can be locked in the neutralposition or either of the extreme positions while requiring but a smallarc of movement of the lever. Further, to move the operating lever fromone position to the other always requires an outward movement of theoperating lever against the bias of the spring associated therewith.Other modifications are obvious and will not be presented here.

From the above, it will be recognized that a lever lock arrangement hasbeen provided for incorporaton in a device so that mounting of thedevice by means of a single fastening means is easily accomplished.Further, the particular lever lock arrangement described and shownherein allows for the operation of the device by movement of theoperating lever through but a small arc. Also, the lever lockarrangement is characterized by the fact that it requires no loose orremovable parts nor any elements, other than the operating lever, whichcan be accidentally damaged by external forces'.

The scope of the invention in the lever lock arrangement set forthherein should be determined from the following claims in which, weclaim:

1. The combination comprising: a switch having a casing including amounting bushing cooperable with a mounting panel; an insert secured insaid bushing, the

outer periphery of said insert being no greater than the outer peripheryof said bushing; a first operated lever pivoted in said bushing andincluding a portion extending through said insert beyond said bushing;and a second operating lever in axial telescoping relationship with theextending portion of said rst lever, said second lever being springbiased toward `and a pointed extremity thereof engaging said insert; theportion of said insert engaged by the extremity of said second leverhaving at least one high surface and one low surface connected by asurface of abrupt slope as compared to the slope of said high surfaceand said low surface so that oscillatory movement of said first leverand said second lever about said pivot from at least one position toanother requires an abrupt relative axial -movement between said levers.

2. A lever lock arrangement, the combination comprising: a housingincluding a bushing cooperable with a mounting panel; an insert securedin said bushing, the outer periphery of said insert being no greaterthan the outer periphery of said bushing; a irst lever pivoted in saidbushing and including a portion extending through said insert `andbeyond said bushing; and a second lever in axial telescopingrelationship with the extending portion of said first lever, said secondlever being spring biased toward and a reduced cross sectional extremitythereof engaging said insert; the surface of said insert engaged by theextremity of said second lever having at least two distinct elevationsso that oscillatory movement of said first lever and said second leverabout said pivot from at least one position to another requires anabrupt relative axial movement between said levers.

3. A lever lock arrangement, the combination comprising: a supportmember, including a bushing cooperable with a mounting panel; a platesecured in said bushing, the outer periphery of said plate being nogreater than the outer periphery of said bushing; a rst lever pivoted insaid support member and including a portion extending through saidinsert and beyond said bushing; and a second lever in axial telescopingrelationship with the extending portion of said first lever, said secondlever being resiliently biased toward and an extremity thereof engagingsaid plate; the surface of said plate engaged by the extremity of saidsecond lever having at least two distinct elevations so that oscillatorymovement of said iirst lever and said second lever about said pivot fromat least one position to another requires an abrupt relative axialmovement between said levers.

4. A lever actuating arrangement, the combination comprising: a supportmember including a tubular mounting portion cooperable with a mountingpanel; a plate having a portion disposed and secured within saidmounting portion, the outer periphery of said plate being no greaterthan the outer periphery of said mounting` portion; and a leveroscillatively associated with said member and biased toward and anextremity thereof engaging said plate; the surface of said plate engagedby said lever having at least two distinct elevations so thatoscillatory movement of said lever from at least one position to anotherrequires `an abrupt axial movement of said lever.

5. A lever actuating arrangement, the combination comprising: a supportmember including a tubular mounting portion cooperable with a mountingpanel; said mounting portion having means including a portion thereofdisposed and secured therein and including a surface of at least twodistinct elevations, the outer periphery of said means being no greaterthan the outer periphery of said mounting portion; and a leveroscillatively supported by said support member and biased toward and anextremity thereof engaging the surface of said means so that oscillatorymovement of said lever from at least one position to another requires anabrupt axial movement of said lever.

(References on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Lorimer Feb. 13,1906 Buchanan Dec. 26, 1911 5 Douglas Nov. 26, 1929 Douglas June 6, 1933Lehmann June 30, 1942 E Wagner et al May 22, 1951 Koenig Nov. 15, 1955Sparr Apr. 30, 1957 Larkin May 12, 1959 FOREIGN A'ENTS Great BritainDec. 7, 1955

